Takeshi Yoshikawa

Name: Takeshi Yoshikawa

Gender: Male

Age: 17

School: Aurora High School

Hobbies and Interests: History, Music, Anime, Manga, Cosplay

Appearance: Takeshi is a lean Japanese-American boy weighing in at 130 pounds, and appearing rather scrawny all around. In addition to his slight frame, Yoshikawa is also shorter than most in his class, standing at 5’4”.

Takeshi has medium length black hair that tapers off just above his shoulders. He wears his hair messily spiked most of the time, revealing a high-set brow. His eyes are almond shaped with dark brown irises, framed by noticeably arched eyebrows. His face is smooth and young looking, with an oval shape. His nose points slightly upward. His lips are somewhat thin and his mouth is quite small. His ears are small with attached lobes, coming to a slight point at the tops.

Takeshi has hands that are proportional to his size, with neatly trimmed nails. On his right hand he usually wears his class ring; silver with a ruby set inside.

Takeshi walks and stands very straight, but he tends to sit with a leg curled under him or else contorted in a half-sitting half-lying position, especially when he is occupied with something.

Takeshi tends to dress in darker casual wear, but he has a love of cosplay and has been known to wear outfits inspired by favorite anime characters without occasion. On the day of the abduction Takeshi was wearing a black mock garukan (Japanese school uniform) decorated with a peach shaped pin, and sneakers.

Biography: Takeshi was born and raised in Seattle by third generation Japanese-American parents. He is friendly and social, and loves a good joke, even at his own expense. His parents raised him to be bilingual, as they were both raised by their own parents, a decision they made when Takeshi was beginning to learn to talk. Though they both spoke English primarily, each of their parents preferred to speak in Japanese. By teaching Takeshi to speak Japanese as well as English, they hoped to honor the wishes of their parents, who placed much more importance on their cultural heritage than they did. Takeshi considers himself fortunate to have been able to learn both English and Japanese while growing up, and uses both languages daily, whether that means reading a favorite manga or teaching his friends how to say rude words in Japanese. Takeshi is named after his father and is called Taka by his family, while his friends tend to call him Yoshi, that being short for his surname Yoshikawa.

Takeshi's father is a neurosurgeon at a large hospital, and his mother, Kimiko, teaches Kindergarten at a nearby elementary school. He has one sibling; a younger sister named Sayumi, who is one and a half younger than he is. His home life is peaceful and organized. His parents are incredibly supportive of whatever he and his sister choose to do, as long as they do it with excellence. Both he and his sister have been raised Buddhist and are more or less fairly devout, both being strict vegetarians and doing their best to do no harm to anybody.

He is musically talented, being proficient in both the flute and violin. He began learning the flute in elementary school, when music classes began giving way to band. He took up the violin in junior high, studying with a private tutor. His favorite composer is Vivaldi, whose violin concerto L'inverno inspired him to learn violin in the first place. Though Takeshi listens to popular music, his favorite songs are those that contain large segments that he can play. As such he tends to listen to a lot of gothic and symphonic metal.

Takeshi is very interested in anime and manga and is slowly building a collection of Japanese books. He has said on a few occasions that his favorite part of being bilingual is that no one ever asks to borrow his manga. His favorite series is Death Note, and he has often dressed to look like L. Other favorites of his include Axis Powers Hetalia and Oh! My Goddess!. He originally got into manga when his parents started buying him Japanese comic books as incentive for him to learn to read in Japanese. Takeshi and his sister grew up with Studio Ghibli films and received gifts related to Japanese culture and entertainment from their grandparents for birthdays and holidays, given in hopes that that they would hold on to some parts of their heritage.

Takeshi has a strong interest in World War II, sparked by the story of his grandparents' time in Japanese internment camps after the Japanese Imperial Navy's attack on Pearl Harbor. His grandparents on both sides became very involved in the Redress Movement, and out of that became passionate about other civil rights issues across the nation, seeing the struggles of other minorities as paralleling their own fight for equal treatment. They each raised their children to have a passion for social justice, a passion that Takeshi's parents have passed on to him and his sister. He is rather close to his paternal grandparents who live in Portland, and less close to his maternal grandparents, who he does not see as much as they live in Los Angeles.

Takeshi and his sister are close, sharing similar taste in music and movies. While Takeshi doesn't enjoy sports, he goes to all of his sister's basketball games to be supportive. He has started to get her interested in anime and manga, which has lead to her stealing his manga on occasion, as well as their attending a few anime conventions together, once dressing up as Light and Misa from Death Note. Takeshi often ends up as his sister's date to various functions; a role that he bears with grace as he complains and teases his sister for not getting a real date. Secretly, he doesn't mind all that much, as it gives him the opportunity to look after her and scare off boys that he disapproves of. Takeshi sees this as an extension of a duty he feels to care for his younger sister which he has held since they were young and her outgoing nature would often lead her into harm's way. While he cannot recall her having problems with boys, he is aware the problems they can bring. More practically, Takeshi would rather not be forced to socially interact with many of the boys who show interest in Sayumi, and discouraging them early saves him time and frustration later.

Takeshi came out as gay in his sophomore year, a year after determining that for himself, but has been fortunate in that he has not experienced much persecution from his peers. His decision to come out was motivated strongly by a desire to live authentically, expressing himself without pretension. His coming out came largely without fanfare; his friends had already guessed it, and while his parents seemed mildly surprised by his revelation, they were accepting and supportive. Takeshi's grandparents had figured that they had little business rejecting anybody, given what they and their parents had suffered because of their race. They expressed some disappointment at the idea that Takeshi would likely not be having children of his own, but they came to terms with it fairly quickly.

Takeshi is becoming more active in social justice efforts and makes his voice heard through participation in Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) events such as the Day of Silence, and by joining protests and rallies in and around the Seattle area.

In school he performs very well academically, and is in the running for Valedictorian. Though he excels in all subjects, his favorites are History and Band. He is exceptionally passionate about music, practicing daily. Most of his friends are members of the school band as well, though he has acquired several outside the band, mostly anime nerds who were drawn to him by his Japanese heritage. On some level he finds this a little demeaning, because he disapproves of assuming too much about a person's interests because of their race, but he lets it go because he actually is a pretty big nerd.

His college plans are to attend the University of Washington to study music. He has chosen Washington for two reasons, the first being that the school does have a strong music program, and the second being that it is very close to home and he would be able to commute from home without difficulty. His goal in life is to play music professionally.

Advantages: Years of dedication to the violin and flute have given him a great deal of control and strength in fine motor skills, which could could come in handy should he be required to do anything requiring delicate fingerwork. His reputation for non-violence could also win him the trust of his classmates, as he is one of the least likely to participate.

Disadvantages: Being small and not very strong, Takeshi will be easier to manhandle than most of the other boys in his class. His Buddhist upbringing has given him a deep respect for life. Even in extreme circumstances he is not likely to respond with force. To cause harm to any living creature, directly or indirectly, regardless of intent is something that will compromise his core values very deeply and could cause him to shut down at a key moment if he is forced into a situation where that is a strong possibility.

Designated Number: Male student No. 039

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Designated Weapon: Magnesium Firestarter

Conclusion: So this boy likes those Japanese cartoons? I think I saw Astro Boy when I was a kid. I'm sure one of those shows has characters with fire powers or something so he'll like this. You're a fire starter, wicked fire starter. - Abby Soto

'The above biography is as written by Zabriel. No edits or alterations to the author's original work have been made.'

Evaluations
Handled by: Zabriel

Kills:

Killed By:

Collected Weapons:  Magnesium Firestarter (Assigned Weapon)

Allies: Juhan Levandi, Francis St. Ledger, Megan Emerson, Mirabella Strong, Ian Williams

Enemies:

Mid-game Evaluation:

Post-Game Evaluation:

Memorable Quotes:

Other/Trivia

 * Takeshi is tied with Maynard Francis Hurst, Sean Mulcahy, and Steven Salazar for shortest boy in V5.

Threads
Below is a list of threads that contain Takeshi, in chronological order.

The Past:

Pre-Game:
 * This One Time At Band Camp

V5:
 * Despair
 * The Real Folk Blues
 * The two people in the distance were Paulo and Becca
 * Mischief Managed
 * Sleeper Cell
 * Tell No Tales
 * So, How Was Your Day?
 * Intermission
 * Glass
 * Running Away
 * Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien

Your Thoughts
''Whether you were a fellow handler in SOTF or just an avid reader of the site, we'd like to know what you thought about Takeshi Yoshikawa. What did you like, or dislike, about the character? Let us know here!''